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1882: Halley’s (and Delisle’s) Last Hurrah

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Celestial Shadows

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 410))

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Abstract

In 1874, the public in the Americas and most of Europe could experience the transit of Venus only vicariously through the media of print and lecture. In contrast, the 1882 transit would be seen, at least in part, throughout the United States and the areas of Europe that had missed out in 1874. Public interest ran very high, stimulated by newspapers and periodicals and by a piquant awareness of the rarity of the event, and probably attained to the notoriously high levels associated with the returns of Halley’s Comet (Cottam et al. 2011).

…But were it told to me, to-day,

That I might have the sky

For mine, I tell you that my heart

Would split, for size of me…

So, safer, guess, with just my soul

Upon the window-pane

Where other creatures put their eyes

Incautious of the sun.

Emily Dickinson, untitled (Poem 327, c. 1862)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, Antioch, CA, USA

    John Westfall

  2. Willmar, MN, USA

    William Sheehan

  3. Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    William Sheehan

Authors
  1. John Westfall
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  2. William Sheehan
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Westfall, J., Sheehan, W. (2015). 1882: Halley’s (and Delisle’s) Last Hurrah. In: Celestial Shadows. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 410. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1535-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1535-4_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1534-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1535-4

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